Iran’s state news agency IRNA announced Monday that the nation “has successfully launched a live monkey into space”, according to Yahoo. As humorous as this may sound, there’s nothing funny about the indications this action gives of the country’s long-range ballistic technology, which could be used to launch nuclear warheads.

Although there has been no independent confirmation of the report, and some of the information put out by the nation is sketchy, such as the exact date of last week’s launch, coinciding “with the days” of the profit Mohammad’s birthday, the West and Israel are concerned about this perceived advance in Iran’s missiles and space program.

These reported developments are always frightening. Between Iran and North Korea, there’s plenty of reason for anxiety.